The Brilliance Behind NFL’s Best WR, Jaxon Smith-Njigba; Inside NFC West Arms Race

Lumen Field (Seattle) — Tyrice Knight said the quiet part out loud. I asked the Seattle Seahawks linebacker how surprised he was to see the Kansas City Chiefs lining up rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane by himself in press coverage against the best receiver in the league: Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Knight shook his head. “They must not have been watching film,” Knight told me following the Seahawks’ 20-3 win over the Chiefs. “I don’t know why they left that cornerback out there like that. Maybe they had confidence in him, I don’t know. But you can’t do that with the best receiver in the league. You’ve got to give that guy some help.” Facing single coverage a fair amount of the evening as Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo chose to blitz Sam Darnold 23.3% of the time (It wasn’t a wise choice: Darnold finished 7 of 7 for 81 yards and a score vs. blitz, per Next Gen Stats), Smith-Njigba finished with nine receptions for 150 yards on 12 targets. He caught five of his six targets for 85 yards and a touchdown in man coverage against cornerbacks L’Jarius Sneed and Delane, according to Next Gen Stats. On a night when many expected Kenneth Walker III to strengthen his case for Offensive Player of the Year and get back at his former team, JSN instead showed why he’s the best skill-position player in football … and why the Seahawks will be proven right to let the star running back leave. “You can try your best, but JSN is going to get his,” Seahawks tight end AJ Barner told me. “It was a great performance by him. That’s just what it is. Jaxon is going to get open. Sam’s going to find him. He’s just incredible. Every week he’s so consistent. It’s what we expect from Jax.” Barner said a primary reason for the 24-year-old Smith-Njigba’s early success just four years into his NFL career is that he’s an old soul who shows up to work every day. His teammates follow that lead. “He’s such a talented kid, but it’s his mindset, too,” Barner told me. “It’s never too big of a spotlight for him. He had 150 yards tonight, but when he shows up tomorrow, whether it’s 150 yards or 50 yards, he’s going to be the same guy. He’s going to come in and work. And he’s going to put the team before himself as well.” Smith-Njigba, the league’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year, is once again on a heater this season. He leads all receivers in receptions (58), receiving yards (867) and receiving touchdowns (8). If he were to do that for the entire season, Smith-Njigba would be just the fourth receiver to earn the receiving triple crown since the turn of the century. Cooper Kupp notched a triple crown with the Los Angeles Rams during the 2021 season, going on to help his team win the Super Bowl and taking home Super Bowl MVP honors. Now Smith-Njigba’s teammate in Seattle, Kupp understands the stress that he’s going through. “People are going to try and take him away, but he has the ability to stay engaged one play after the next, and when the opportunity comes to play high level football,” Kupp said. “It’s really hard to stay engaged for a full game when the defense is trying to take you away. But he’s done an unbelievable job of that and making the plays when the ball comes his way.” Smith-Njigba is also on pace to become the first receiver with 2,000 receiving yards. He’s the fourth player in NFL history to record 100 receiving yards in six of his team’s first seven games of a season. And Smith-Njigba has been a one-man wrecking crew for Seattle, accounting for 36% of the offense this season. One play against the Chiefs was a microcosm of Smith-Njigba’s dominance. Kansas City sent an all-out blitz late in the first half, with the Seahawks on the Chiefs’ 28-yard line. Delane had sticky press coverage on the Ohio State product on a fade ball, reaching in between Smith-Njigba’s hands to knock the ball away. But Smith-Njigba deftly anticipated the move, moving the ball to his outside left hand and palming the ball in an outstretched hand to keep it away from the rookie defender, holding it out as he went out of bounds for the touchdown. “He’s unguardable,” Seahawks safety Nick Emmanori said. “And it’s pretty amazing to see. Like I’m sitting there and like, ‘Wow, this is a potential Hall of Famer.’ He’s a great receiver. Knowing that he’s getting double-teamed and they’re sending cloud [a second defender] his way, and he’s still making plays? It’s crazy. You can’t even fathom it.” In what has become an annual tradition, Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider made a move to improve his team at a position of need ahead of the NFL’s trade deadline on Nov. 10 It started in Schneider’s first year as GM of the Seahawks, when he traded a fourth-round pick to the Buffalo Bills for Marshawn Lynch in 2010. This year, the Seahawks traded a third-year pick in the 2027 draft and a fifth-round pick in 2028 for Indianapolis Colts Pro Bowl offensive guard Quenton Nelson. The Seahawks had struggled to consistently get a push in the running game with Kenneth Walker III signing with Kansas City in free agency, and at times struggled to protect quarterback Sam Darnold. In Nelson, the Seahawks get an eight-time Pro Bowler and six-time All-Pro who has one year left on his deal with a base salary of $16 million. Seattle will pay a prorated portion of that salary of nearly $10 million. Seahawks left tackle Charles Cross could miss time due to a high-ankle sprain suffered in the team’s runaway win over the Chiefs last week, so Nelson provides depth up front. Current left guard Grey Zabel is expected to move over to right guard, allowing the 30-year-old Nelson to fill in at left guard. Swing tackle Josh Jones is expected to fill in at left tackle if Cross can’t go. The Seahawks are in an arms race in the NFC West with the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams added Myles Garrett, Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson and Aaron Donald in the offseason, while the 49ers brought in Mike Evans. Seattle responded to those moves by adding its own Hall of Fame-worthy player two weeks before the trade deadline in Nelson. It’s the fourth consecutive year the Seahawks have made a big trade at the deadline, including Leonard Williams in 2023, Ernest Jones IV in 2024, Rashid Shaheed in 2025 and Nelson this season. Like Lynch, all three players signed new deals to stay in Seattle, so Nelson could be a long-term player for the Seahawks. A longtime NFL scout I spoke with liked the move for Seattle, noting that Schneider and Colts interim general manager Ed Dodds, who took over for the fired Chris Ballard, worked together in Seattle. “It’s a good two-way trade,” the longtime scout told me. “Seattle has needed some upfront experience, especially to help Josh Jones out as he replaces [Charles] Cross outside. Seattle has good young offensive guards, but I see it more as a run game addition than a passing game addition to protecting the QB. “Indy has moved on from a really good drafting GM in Ballard. Dodd and Schneider are both solid personnel guys who know each other from Seattle way back and trust each other. Indy should have waited until after the season to make a GM move.” But as the Seahawks made their big swing, it only took a few hours before the 49ers made one of their own. They responded to the Seahawks’ move for Nelson by also taking advantage of the fire sale in Indianapolis and trading back for its 2016 first-round pick: defensive tackle DeForest Buckner. The 49ers should get Nick Bosa back soon from a calf injury, and reuniting him with Buckner should improve San Francisco’s pass rush. With San Francisco heading into the bye week and the Seahawks hosting the Chicago Bears in a nationally televised game on Monday Night Football, things are heating up in the NFC West. While the AFC and NFC Wests are heating up elsewhere, Los Angeles is a different story. The Rams and Chargers have combined for just one win at SoFi Stadium this year in what was expected to be a season the two teams could meet in their home stadium with the Lombardi Trophy on the line. Instead, the two will face off in Week 8 with much less at stake: bragging rights for Los Angeles in a stadium where the Arizona Cardinals (2) have more wins so far this season than the two teams combined. The Chargers (0-6) had a bye week to try and fix an embarrassing offense led by new coordinator Mike McDaniel. Head coach Jim Harbaugh said his team spent the week trying to simplify things so star quarterback Justin Herbert can play fast and decisively heading into the second half of the season. McDaniel remains the person directing the offense — for now. The reeling Rams (3-4), meanwhile, got an important road win over the Las Vegas Raiders and will look to build on that against the Chargers. “It was the first week that we were able to have a normal week of preparation with the way that things have been situated this whole season,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said about his team’s win over the Raiders last week. “I think that was beneficial and this week will represent another opportunity to do that. We have to improve and we have to have even greater urgency than last week. I know we’re capable of doing it, players and coaches alike. I’m excited to start that prep with those guys.” 5. Los Angeles Rams The Rams finally emphasized running the football in a road win over the Raiders, totaling 199 yards on the ground. Kyren Williams (99) and Blake Corum (93) are the third duo in the NFL this season to each record at least 90 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the same game (Kyle Monangai & D’Andre Swift, Week 1; Josh Allen & James Cook, Week 5). 4. Denver Broncos Broncos quarterback Bo Nix’s 62-yard rushing touchdown was the longest rushing touchdown by a QB since 2022. Nix, however, is still struggling to push the ball downfield – 64.4% of his passing yards are after the catch this season, the second-highest rate behind Jalon Daniels (65.5%), per Next Gen Stats. 3. Kansas City Chiefs The Seahawks pressured Patrick Mahomes on 39% of his passing attempts in Kansas City’s loss to Seattle. Mahomes finished 6-for-13 for 44 yards, with no touchdowns and an interception on those throws, posting a 22.6 passer rating. 2. Seattle Seahawks After earning a victory at home against the Chiefs, the Seahawks have little time to rest, hosting the modern version of Mahomes in Caleb Williams and one of the most innovative offensive minds in Bears head coach Ben Johnson, who said he wants to break the single-season NFL scoring record. 1. San Francisco 49ers The 49ers get a break during the bye week after suffering their first loss of the year on the road against the Atlanta Falcons. San Francisco needs Nick Bosa (calf) and Mike Evans (Achilles) to come out of the bye week healthy. “This is us. This is ‘The Dark Side.’ This is what we do.” Seahawks defensive tackle Byron Murphy II on his defense’s dominating performance against the Chiefs.